The third issue of the SDS News Bulletin is out. It’s a good way to find out what is going on it Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the larger group of which ACTIVATE is a part.

Read SDS News Bulletin #3

Last Saturday, Senator Carl Levin descended on the city of Grand Rapids in order to share his grace and wisdom about the situation in Iraq, as well as explain how the United States should proceed in its ongoing illegal occupation of the country. Fortunately, some people saw through this charade and staged a protest against Levin. ACTIVATE (Grand Rapids SDS) delivered over 100 flyers to members of the audience that outlined Levin’s ongoing support for the war though his continual voting for funding. This information is in direct contrast with the image Levin tries to present to the public. Levin initially voted against the war in 2002, but since the start of the war he has voted for nearly every funding bill. Levin has also repeatedly compromised on bills that would require the removal of some troops from Iraq as soon as there was opposition. Even more insulting, Levin has repeatedly blamed the Iraqis themselves for the situation in Iraq, claiming that they need to quit “dawdling” on supporting US-backed political issues. Levin’s talk was much of the same.

In his talk, Levin again chose to blame the Iraqis for the situation in their country. Iraq has been devastated by years of sanctions and bombings during the Clinton administration, and the current war which has killed 1.1 million Iraqi lives. How can the Iraqis possibly be to blame for the situation in their country? Levin took on a paternalistic tone in his talk as he claimed that success can only be won in Iraq if we force the Iraqis to take control of their country. Levin also added arrogantly that “The US cannot be their security blanket.” Clearly, Levin fails to understand the link between destroying a country through years of bombings and sanctions and the political instability that comes as a result.

Levin’s talk was advertised as a public forum, but the question and answer period clearly showed that this was not the case. Audience members were required to submit questions in writing. These questions were then sorted and filtered. Then a question was selected for Levin to answer. As a result of this, many important questions went unanswered. Questions such as, how can Levin claim to be against the war, yet continue to vote for funding, or why should the U.S. even have a say in the future of Iraq?

Levin’s actions have made it clear that he is not an ally of the anti-war movement. A vote for more funding for war is a vote for war. Despite Levin’s claims, the solution for Iraq is the solution that the majority of Iraqis support. The U.S. needs to end the occupation immediately. As a movement, we need to get over the illusion that politicians are our allies. Politicians and elections never stop wars, only grassroots movements can.

As we hope many of you are aware, the United States’ illegal occupation of Iraq is approaching its 5th year. Politicians have been skirting around the issue by passing meaningless resolutions and blaming the Iraqis for the problems the United States has caused in Iraq. Clearly, we cannot rely on these people to end the war and as a result we must take action ourselves to end this war. Each year, the anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq has drawn large protests around the world however these have had little effect in altering the course of the war. This is due in part because people see the anniversary of the war as the only day of the year to take action against the war.

This year, ACTIVATE hopes to make the anniversary of the war a beginning in stronger anti-war organizing in Grand Rapids. Last year, we upped the stakes by marching to Representative Ehlers’ house, forcing him to begin to defend (however poorly he has done so) his position on the war. This year, after considerable thought and reflection, we feel that the antiwar movement needs to build its skills and increase the frequency of activity. We need to find new ways to challenge both the system responsible for the war, as well as challenging ourselves to find new ways of resisting.

In order to accomplish this, ACTIVATE will be putting out a series of guides on how to carry out certain actions, activities, tactics, and protests. Along with this, we will be putting on various workshops and hosting discussions in order for us to share skills and increase our skill-base and experience.

In doing this, we hope that people will come up with their own ideas on how to commemorate the anniversary of the war by carrying out many decentralized actions in different locations. We want to highlight the fact that there are an almost infinite number of ways in which we can act to stop the war, and that it is imperative that there be sustained activity around the war. Everything from direct action to vigils must be on the table–and at varying times–all tactics are important.

In addition to calling for decentralized actions, ACTIVATE is hosting a march on March 15 at 12:00pm at Heartside Park in downtown Grand Rapids. As we have in the past, we will use the march to make connections between related issues–militarism, racism, and capitalism–and to draw in people from outside the traditional sectors of the antiwar movement.

In Solidarity,
- ACTIVATE (Grand Rapids SDS) – www.activategr.org

PS – Expect to hear and see more from us very soon.

PPS – Additional Resources:

March 15 Plans and Promotional Materials:
http://www.activategr.org/news/5th-anniversary-antiwar-march/

Why ACTIVATE Calls for an Immediate End to the Occupation of Iraq:
http://www.activategr.org/news/end-the-occupation/

ACTIVATE’s Position on the 2008 Elections:
http://www.activategr.org/news/election-statement/

Carl Levin, a democratic senator from Michigan, will be speaking Saturday February 16th from 1:00 – 2:00 PM at the Grand Valley State University’s Loosemore auditorium in Grand Rapids.

Levin is often portrayed as a “liberal” and anti-war, however, his voting record in the senate and the comments he has made about Iraq tell a different story. Levin initially voted against the war in 2002, but since the start or the war he has voted for nearly every funding bill. Levin has also repeatedly compromised on bills that would require the removal of some troops from Iraq as soon as there was opposition. Even more insulting, Levin has repeatedly blamed the Iraqis themselves for the situation in Iraq, claiming that they need to quit “dawdling” on supporting US-backed political issues.

Join ACTIVATE (Grand Rapids SDS) at 12:30 outside the Loosemore auditorium to tell Levin that we do not support spineless politicians who back down on their positions as soon as there is opposition.

Stop funding the war!
Stop blaming the Iraqis for the situation the US invasion and occupation has created!
End the occupation Immediately!

ACTIVATE (Grand Rapids SDS) has endorsed the following call to action. We encourage groups and individuals–whether students or not–to organize protests, direct actions, and other visible manifestations of resistance against the US occupation of Iraq for the week of March 17-21:

ALL OUT FOR MARCH 20, 2008

This March will mark a grim milestone–the fifth anniversary of the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq. Despite the clear mandate from the American people to end the occupation, the U.S. government continues to wage war upon the Iraqi people. Bush’s mocking response to dwindling public support for the war has been the “troop surge,” or simply more of the same, while simultaneously threatening neighboring countries like Iran. For their part, the Democrats refuse to commit to a clear anti-war stance, even as they try to posture as the opposition party. Meanwhile, the threat of domestic recession looms, racist attacks increase, and millions lack decent housing, jobs, education, and health-care.

The war will drag on for many more years–draining billions of dollars and resulting in thousands of more causalities, both American and Iraqi, on top of the hundreds of thousands already killed, injured, and displaced-unless the people stand up and fight for change.

Every year, there have been protests marking the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that was launched on the basis of lies and deceit. Students have historically had an especially important role in the struggles against racism and war, and we continue to do so today. Last March, over 80 high schools and colleges answered the call by chapters of Students for a Democratic Society to come together to send one loud resounding NO to the Bush administration and the Republican agenda, to the Democrats who refuse to carry out the mandate of their constituents, and to the University administrations that so often support war efforts.

This March, SDS is urging all students, as part of the broader community of people of conscience, to voice our opposition to the war in Iraq. As the presidential election nears, candidates need to be sent a clear message: we will not stand for vague time lines and empty promises, we will not tolerate sanctions, threats, and aggression against Iran, and that we will stand in solidarity with the Iraqi people who are struggling to liberate their country.

We want as many people as possible to join us in this protest; the larger the protest the stronger the impact we have, and the sooner we can help end this war. We are calling on any and all student and youth based organizations that are opposed to the war in Iraq to mobilize their memberships, their campus, their community and hit the streets for the week of March 17-21, with March 20 as the focal point.* We are calling on students to take action on their own campuses, where we have the power to reach the entire student body with our message and build resistance on our own campuses. We are calling on our fellow students and youth to take the lead and do whatever it takes–from rallies, marches, walk-outs, civil disobedience, and direct action–to send a clear message to the U.S. government: Get out of Iraq Now!

U.S. OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST!

GET ORGANIZED, GET INVOLVED, GET IN THE STREETS!

SDS March 20th Working Group

January 4, 2008

Contact march20sds@gmail.com if you would like to sign on to the call. *This call is flexible so that each campus/community can organize an action that works best for them. For instance, if March 20th is an inconvenient date due to Spring Break, actions can be held in the weeks prior to or after 3/20. We are encouraging those who are on spring break during this week to mobilize their chapters to participate in the anti-war actions being held in D.C. on the 19th; for more information on the actions in DC, email dcsds@riseup.net.

A full list of endorsers can be found at march20sds.wordpress.com.